Rail



Dec. 22, 1925- 1,566,942 w. A. WILLIS RAIL Filed May 2, 1924 A ooo 24` Patented 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM A. WILLIS, F PARSONS, KANSAS.

RAE.

Application lcd May 2,

To all whom z't may concern.: Be it known that'I, WILLIAM A. WILLIS, a citizen of the United States, residin at Parsons, in the county of Labette and tate of Kansas, have invented certain 'new and useful Improvements in Rails, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying rawmg. My invention relates to new and useful improvements in rails and has 4for its principal object lthe provision of a rail havinga removable section, a depression being provided in the rail when the Section is removed to allow the wheels of a locomotive l5 or the like to drop so as to transfer the 7 lweight from one wheel to another to allowv the making of repairs such as removing .and replacing springs, spring rigging, tlres, brasses, or any other part of the locomotive. A further object of the inventionresides in form' the removable section by cutting out a portion of the rail tread and web, the web of the rail being thickened at the point where cut away and having openings adjacent 'the ends of the cut out portion to receive projections formed on or secured to the cut out or removable section.

Another object consists in forming the upper surface oi the web, where cut away, with a concaved longitudinally extending recess to receive a longitudinally curved projection depending from the removable section. j

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the descrlption proceeds, my invention consists 1n the novel details of construction, and arrangement of parts, described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanyln 49 drawings, and while I have illustrated an described the preferred embodiments of the invention, as they now a pear to me, it will be understood that suc changes may be made as will fall within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing a section of a locomotive in position upon a raii. Fig. 2 is a top pian of my improved rail section.

Fig. 3 is a side eievation oi my improved rail section with the removable portion raised.

Fi 4 is a transverse vertical section on 5 the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, and

-The tread 2 and the thickened portion 4 of 1924. serial no. 710,518.

Fi 5 is a transverse vertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

05 the web 3 are cut away toprovide the longitudinally curved recess 6 and the upper surface of the thickened portion 4 is fiat, adjacent the ends of the cut out as shown at Vertically extending openings 8 extend through the thickened portion 4 of the web, adjacent the ends of the cut out, the upper ends, of said openings extending into the iattened portions 7 of the web. The ends of the tread 2, adjacent the cut out portion, are beveled as shown at 9. The cut out portion of the rail forms a removable section 10 which has the depending longitudinally curved projection 11 which is normally received in the longitudinallvcurved recess 6 and the upper end of this removable section forms a continuation of the tread 2 and the ends thereof are lbeveled as shown at 12. The depending portion 11 terminates short of the ends of the removable section and provides at the ends of the said section the longitudinally extending iiat surfaces 13. which are adapted to be received upon the fiat surfaces 7 of the web. Lugs or projections 14 extend downwardh7 from the fiat surfaces 13 and are adapted to be received in the openings 8 of the web.

It will thus be seen that when the removable section l() is in position relative to the rail that a continuous rail is provided and said removable section is held against transverse movement bv means of the lugs or projections 14 being` received in the openings 8. By beveling the ends of the tread as shown at 9 and thel ends of the removable section as shown at 12 there will be no sharp corners at the meeting` point of the removable section with the tread and there will be no jar or sudden impact when the wheels of the locomotive engage at these points.

Previous to my invention several methods have been used for removing and replacing springs, spring ri ging, tires, brosses, etc., on locomotives. (Ine of these methods consisted in using one or more heavy jac and m to the one doing the repair work.v With my' improved construction of rail the work may be easily, quickly, and inexpensively done as the r'ail is so formed that itf'may be used, when desired, as a continuons rail for the operation of the locomotive "thereover and then when it is desired to make the repairs the removable section may be taken from its normal position and by operating the locomotive in a manner which I will describe the repairs may be quite easily and quickly made. As an example of the manner in which the work may be done I have illustrated, in-Fig. 1, one drive wheel and one trailer wheel lof a locomotive with their connecting levers. -The drive wheel is indicated at 15 and the trailer wheel at 16. When it is desired to remove the trailer spring 17 or the brasses indicated at 18 the locomotive will be positioned with the removable section between the drive wheel 15 and trailer wheel 16. The removable section is taken from its place, on-.both rails, and the engine is moved so that the driver wheels 15 will drop into the cut out portions of the rails. 'Normally these cut out portions will allow the wheels to drop approximately three inches causing considerable ci the weight of the drive wheels to be transferred to the trailer wheels 16 through means of the equalizers 19,

motive are connected by a cross equalizer 20 which passes through an opening :termed in a connecting rod or bar 21 which isrconnected to one end of the equalizer 19 and o ne end of the 4driver spring 22. The opposite end of the equalizer 19 is connected to :the trailer spring 17 by means of the connecting rod or bar 23. Each equalizer 19 is so positioned that the rear end is outside of the engine frame while the front end isoii the inside between the two-engine frames. The front end of the equalizer 19 is connected t0 a cross equalizer 2O by means of the long hanger 21, -there'being two of these hangers in between the en 'neframes one connectin theequalizer 19 with the cross equr an the other connecting the cross equalizer with an equalizer 19 on the opposite side of the engine. The cross equalizer 20 in its extreme ends is connected to the rear end of its rear driving sllrings by means of short hangers 20', these ein 'located directly over the engine frame w ile thelong hangers are lo- I cated near the center of the cross e ualizer 20 in between the en 'ne frames. en the dr1ve wheel lowers lnto the recess it causes it being understood that the equalizers on opposite sides of the-loco-v the end of the equalizer 19 adjacent thereto to be lowered and the op site end is raised. To hold the slack which is'now in the spring rigginga block is placed between the equalizer 19 and the locomotive frame lat the point shown at v2,4 and a' block is also placed under the engine frame, on top of the driving box' 25 at the point 26. The locomotive is then moved forward so that the drive wheels 15 ,are 4moved fromthe cut-out portions and are received 'on' the tread of the rail', thismovement of the locomotive raising the same approximately vthree inches at this point. 0r in other words somewhat higher than the trailer wheels 16.- The trailer wheels will then pass into the recesses and drop approximately three inches and as the equalizers are blocked so that they cannot equalize all of the weight is transferred from the trailer wheels 16 to the driver wheels 15 and the trailer spring 17 is perfectly free and can be easily removed and replaced by disconnecting the hangers. To remove or replace the trailer brass, 18 it is only necessary to raise the weight of the trailer frame and this can be done with a small jack. The operation-for repairing or replacing the brasses or springs of the dierent wheels of the locomotive will be substantially the same as previously described and fit is thought that a further detailed description of the manner of using is' not necessary at this Suceto say-that it is only necessary to so' position the locomotive with respect to the ycut-out portion that the required wheels may drop and so operate the etilializers asto ,take the weight from those w eels on which there are parts to be replaced or `repaired and transfer the same to adjacent wheels.` After the necessary repairs have been made the removable section may be replaced and the locomotives les may travel over the rails as usual. By hav- I claim as new and desire to secure by Letf ters Patent is:

' 1. A rail of the charactelpdescribed having a longitudinally curved recess formed intermediate its ends and' a removable section adapted'to be' received in said recess.

2. Arail of the character described having a recess formed intermediate its ends, reinforcing means adjacent said recess, and a removable section adapted to be received Within the recess.

3. A rail of the character described having a longitudinally curved recess formed intermediate its ends, a removable section adapted to be received in said recess, and means for preventing displacement of the removable section relative to the rail.

` 4. A rail of the character described having a recess formed intermediate the ends and openings within the recess, a removable section adapted to be received Within the recess, and projections carried by the removable section and adapted to be received in the openings.

5.- A rail of the character described having a longitudinally curved recess intermediate the ends, and a removable section adapted to be received in said recess, the removable section bein'g curved to conform to the curvature of the recess.

6. A rail of the character described having a longitudinally curved recess intermediate the ends, and a removable section adapted to be received within the recess, said removable section having a longitudinally curved projection to conform to the curvature of the recess.

7 A rail of the character described having a longitudinally curved recess intermediate its ends, the web of the rail being thickened adjacent the recess and having vertically extending openings thereiny a removable section adapted to be received Within said recess, said removable section having a longitudinallycurved projection to conform to the curvature of the recess and projections carried by the removable section and adapted to be received Within the openingsl 8. A rail adapted for use in repairing locomotives or the like havingr a normally level surface for supporting the4 wheels of the locomotive and a detachable section adapted to be removed to provide a recess over which the Wheels may be positioned and allowed to be lowered.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiix my signature.

WILLIAM A. WILLIS. 

